Florida AP holders

[lucas]

This is becoming our experience, too. The I4 issue is a pain in the butt when it's backed up (which is pretty much all the time). We are about 20 miles north of Orlando and we have found that we have visited less and less often over the past few months because it's just become more hassle than it's worth by the end of a full work and school week. We will renew our AP's again, but may look at more restrictive options than the silver unless we start visiting more frequently. I was showing my husband a few weeks ago that the number of visits we've made on our passes since the last renewal make the passes work out more expensive than what we'd pay for single entry one day tickets! Of course now that we know that we will probably make more effort.

The reality when you live here (I used to travel to WDW before so I'm used to doing it very differently) is that
1. You don't tend to spend as much time at the park/s on any given day
2. Because they are always there, there's less of a pull to them, once the initial novelty of close proximity has worn off a bit
3. Probably the reason I initially overlooked the most, is that we are not on vacation here now. So there are dogs to care for, work, school, kid's friends and social things going on and general life can get in the way. When we came on vacation we were totally focused on Disney

One thing we have not accounted for in evaluating the value of our FL AP's is the PhotoPass that comes with it. To be fair, we use it a lot whenever we visit so that is additional value I didn't consider.

AP PhotoPass? What is that? I've never heard of it (we have the FL resident silver passes).

 

[Maistre Gracey]

We live in Dr. Phillips which is less than 5 miles from Disney property and can be in a park in less than 15 minutes from our front door. We go to the parks at least twice a week. More during Food & Wine and/or Flower & Garden. We go to Disney Springs I'd say 2 or 3 times a week as well. So we probably spend a good 150+ days in the park or on property somewhere in a year.

We resort hop a lot as well. Pools, restaurants, bars, etc. That's a lot of fun! We definitely get our money's worth out of passes and Tables in Wonderland. That thing pays for itself for us just in free valet parking in about month. Free valet at all the resorts is a very nice perk! We use it so much at The Boardwalk all the valets see us driving up and already have our name on the card ready to go

The AP probably saves us a good $2,000 a year just in the free parking at the parks as well. And that number is just on 100 days, which we go more than that so that number is most likely higher.

We actually moved to the Orlando area just to spend more time at Disney. Grew tired of paying o much to get here before we lived here. Much cheaper to just move here

Holy Moses!!! 100 days in the parks!!
I'm with you on DS and resort dinners, but I could never do 100 days in the parks. F&W we probably do 15 or so, but that's a long way from 100 !!

MG

 

[2Tiggies]

AP PhotoPass? What is that? I've never heard of it (we have the FL resident silver passes).

They changed it last year sometime in the late part of the year to include the PhotoPass photos on the some of the AP's. Now you've got me wondering if it's silver or if I have the type of AP we have confused. I'll have to check. We didn't go for the full on Platinum, that much I do know .... we do have PhotoPass, but had to wait until the renewal dates rolled around before we were able to benefit from the feature.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

They changed it last year sometime in the late part of the year to include the PhotoPass photos on the some of the AP's. Now you've got me wondering if it's silver or if I have the type of AP we have confused. I'll have to check. We didn't go for the full on Platinum, that much I do know .... we do have PhotoPass, but had to wait until the renewal dates rolled around before we were able to benefit from the feature.

I don't believe the photo doohickey thing is included with Silver.

MG

 

[DrivenByDisney]

Holy Moses!!! 100 days in the parks!!
I'm with you on DS and resort dinners, but I could never do 100 days in the parks. F&W we probably do 15 or so, but that's a long way from 100 !!

MG

Hahahaha ... We get that reaction a lot

We truly enjoy the parks and all things Disney. Living this close, it's hard not to just pop pover for dinner/lunch and/or drinks all the time. We know a lot of the CM's at the restaurants/bars and we have a good time. Always meeting new people from all over the world. I have even met new customers for my business at Disney!

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Hahahaha ... We get that reaction a lot

We truly enjoy the parks and all things Disney. Living this close, it's hard not to just pop pover for dinner/lunch and/or drinks all the time. We know a lot of the CM's at the restaurants/bars and we have a good time. Always meeting new people from all over the world. I have even met new customers for my business at Disney!

We just might run into you for a drink at DS sometime!! We totally enjoy the outdoor bar at hob... Among others around property. We also have been known to visit AK simply for Dawa..

Just sayin'

MG

 

[lovethattink]

We have a gold pass. Typically we go once a week. But life has been very busy lately and it's been more like once or twice a month.

 

[2Tiggies]

I don't believe the photo doohickey thing is included with Silver.

MG

You're absolutely right. My apologies. We have Platinum passes. I thought that the Platinum was what is now Platinum Plus. They confused me with the changes last year! Thanks for pointing this out to avoid confusion.

 

[MommaoffherRocker]

We have silver passes and live in Jax, takes us 2-2.5 hours. We do a day trip at least once a month with the kids. On race weekends DH and I usually stay at least one night and go to the parks both days of the weekend(so far this year we have done that 3 times). I think it is definitely worth it, especially once I factor in room/merchandise/dining discounts.

 

[DestinyMagick]

We live about 10 minutes from Disney World. We go about once a month until October. From October to January 1st, we will visit Disney World 20-25 times. We've lived here 4 years and always have the highest annual passes available. We don't have any family here so we spend every holiday at Disney World. We spend the most time at Epcot because of the Flower and Garden festival, Sounds Like Summer concerts, Food and Wine festival and Eat to the Beat concerts, and Holidays Around The World. We visit Magic Kingdom on every holiday and with every changing of the seasons. We go to every special event Hollywood Studios hosts (Star Wars Weekends, Frozen Summer Fun). We are always discovering new things we haven't done. Since we live so close, we don't have to do epic 12 hour days like we used to before we moved here. We can just go a few hours and leave if it gets too hot, rainy, crowded, or we get tired. I think it really depends on how close you live and how much you love Disney. I can't imagine ever getting burned out from the parks. Many times we don't even ride rides or attractions. We just love being there because of the magical feeling you get while you're there. How can anyone ever get tired of that?

 

[POLY1985]

Hello. I have some questions on the pass. We are purchasing a home in Florida but we will not be moving down for about two years. We will provide a home owners insurance policy which is one of the requirements so that is not an issue. We will be coming down to check on the property every other month ( we are not renting it out) and so I figured we would spend one day per trip visiting WDW.
Here are my questions:
Can you only purchase the pass online or can you go directly to Guest Services?
Once I provide my proof ( home owners policy) and our drivers licenses, do we just receive a card for that day in the park?
After the card is validated, Can we just go online to order bands?
If we are just doing day trips, how do we books FP+ or can we? Do we need to be staying in a room?

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Sorry, duplicate post

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Hello. I have some questions on the pass. We are purchasing a home in Florida but we will not be moving down for about two years. We will provide a home owners insurance policy which is one of the requirements so that is not an issue. We will be coming down to check on the property every other month ( we are not renting it out) and so I figured we would spend one day per trip visiting WDW.
Here are my questions:
Can you only purchase the pass online or can you go directly to Guest Services?
Once I provide my proof ( home owners policy) and our drivers licenses, do we just receive a card for that day in the park?
After the card is validated, Can we just go online to order bands?
If we are just doing day trips, how do we books FP+ or can we? Do we need to be staying in a room?

We bought our most recent one at guest services in Disney Springs.
I believe last year we purchased right at the Epcot ticket window.
We got a card right away and went directly into the park. We never did get a magic band, likely because we didn't request one.

ETA: we have done FP's on MDE, but that's all magic to me. Wifey handles that.

MG

 

[shh]

When we have a pass we usually plan them around two larger vacations -- one when we buy the pass and one as close to the expiration date as possible. We may also take a couple of very short trips. Generally the first trip is about the same as what you would pay if you just bought tickets, and the second trip is the "bonus" free trip that drives down the cost per visit.

Exactly. We may not even do the short trips, but if we do at least two fairly decent ones (3-5 days each) within the year, lower end passes are definitely worth it.

 

[DrivenByDisney]

We just might run into you for a drink at DS sometime!! We totally enjoy the outdoor bar at hob... Among others around property. We also have been known to visit AK simply for Dawa..

Just sayin'

MG

We may have already and just didn't know it

We tend to hang out at The Hangar Bar, Morimoto's, The Boathouse & Splitsville at Disney Springs. Spend time at the Tune in Lounge at Studios and Rose & Crown at EPCOT for the most part.

Belle Vue Lounge at the Boardwalk as well as Mizners at the Grand Floridian.

We're at one of those spot at least twice a week or so. We'll be looking out for you guys!

 

[jade1]

So true. My husband has lived here all his life so he grew up with WDW on his doorstep. We used to come here for vacations and crammed our days to the brim. A few weeks ago he wanted to go check out the new Soarin ride so we cruised over to Epcot, did the one ride and as we headed for the exit immediately afterwards to go elsewhere for lunch, DD looked at him like he was crazy Like, are you SERIOUS? One ride and we leave? Really? We've found some middle ground in between the extremes of this example and the rope drop to park closing extremes, but yes, there is definitely not that pressure to do everything.

Also, since we used to always stay on-site, it was easy to sneak back to the pool for a break and then head back to the parks. I4 makes that a far less attractive option to us now!

We were lucky enough to do 6 trips this last winter. About 10 days ea. Did Star Wars Fireworks a couple nights and that was it. But usually tossed in Fantasmic, TSM (or RNR) and TOT FP+.

 

[mich1073]

Hello. I have some questions on the pass. We are purchasing a home in Florida but we will not be moving down for about two years. We will provide a home owners insurance policy which is one of the requirements so that is not an issue. We will be coming down to check on the property every other month ( we are not renting it out) and so I figured we would spend one day per trip visiting WDW.
Here are my questions:
Can you only purchase the pass online or can you go directly to Guest Services?
Once I provide my proof ( home owners policy) and our drivers licenses, do we just receive a card for that day in the park?
After the card is validated, Can we just go online to order bands?
If we are just doing day trips, how do we books FP+ or can we? Do we need to be staying in a room?

If you have a Florida DL, you will not need any other paperwork to show your a resident. You only need paperwork if you have a DL from another state and you have to prove you live in Florida at some time of year. This is allow snow birds to have Florida AP as well, if they live here and have say a power bill in their name.

You can buy the card easiest online or in front of any park at Guest Services. You can even get them at some other locations, but not all can do APs. So eitehr online or the front of parks is the easiest. They will give you your AP Card right then, you have to order your MBs online thru MDE. You can also call the AP phone line and they can do it over the phone as well. (407) 560-7277

You can also use any of the resort bands you have if they are all linked on MDE. Once a MB is linked on your MDE it should allow you into the resort, parks and FPs etc. I have about 5 MBs floating around the RV and house

FPs are booked online at 30 days prior. If you book any Disney Resort its 60 days prior. All is done at MDE as well. Pretty much MDE is the answer to everything anymore. I like doing it on the computer for FPs and other things. I have had great success over the phone with tech support when my husband and daughter were not being added to my reservations even though they showed on MDE. Only took 7 minutes or so on the phone and it linked correctly and FPs could be made at 60 days.

 

[POLY1985]

Thank you! That's very helpful info. I just did a screen shot for future reference. I'm looking forward to becoming a Florida resident!!

 

[CinderellaDreamer]

Hello. I have some questions on the pass. We are purchasing a home in Florida but we will not be moving down for about two years. We will provide a home owners insurance policy which is one of the requirements so that is not an issue. We will be coming down to check on the property every other month ( we are not renting it out) and so I figured we would spend one day per trip visiting WDW.
Here are my questions:
Can you only purchase the pass online or can you go directly to Guest Services?
Once I provide my proof ( home owners policy) and our drivers licenses, do we just receive a card for that day in the park?
After the card is validated, Can we just go online to order bands?
If we are just doing day trips, how do we books FP+ or can we? Do we need to be staying in a room?

We have the same situation. My husband and I each had to have a piece of mail with our FL address listed. He took the utility bill, and I took the bank statement. We then showed our out of state licenses as well. You can do it in front of any park or at DS. I had purchased them on line first, and brought the paperwork with me to activate it with proof of residency. You can make FP reservations once the tickets are linked to your MDE. So if you purchase them on line at home, you can go ahead and make FP if they are linked to your account. You can only have 7 days worth of FP's at any time. If your pass has block out dates, they obviously will not be available for reserving FP.

About a month later, I got an email saying 'welcome AP holder' and that I could customize my Magic Bands. They came a few weeks later with a little slider that said AP holder. It had asked which address to send them to also. So I received them out of state.

We got Silver Passes last year, and have enjoyed three trips so far. All about 7-10 days each. We have never come down more than 4 times in a year with our passes. Parking is included this year in the silver pass, which is quite a savings. In years past, we bought one pass that included parking, and the rest of the family got the cheaper level that did not. Even though we have a house, we sometimes will stay a night or two on property due to the AP discounts on the hotels. Like $78 for ASMu this November. And $133 for CBR in September. Great rates and a chance to enjoy the pools.

We really love the water park passes also. We have purchased those in the past and just visited DS or had dinner at the resorts after going to the water parks.

 

[Rgonzalez79]

Heck, we have gone into AK just for drinks at Dawa bar.... More than once.

MG

We do the same with the Star Wars fireworks. Stroll in to HS about 8, snag a carrot cake cookie, and take quick walk before the show. Then sit and people watch for a bit as everyone bee lines for the exits